


the world looks like a movie always playing

by notthebigspoon



Series: setting skies [1]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 18:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notthebigspoon/pseuds/notthebigspoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim is pretty sure that this day can't get any worse. Cy had thrown up all over his favorite converse this morning, he'd missed his bus and was late to work, he'd burned his arm spilling his coffee and now... now he is face down on a sidewalk with ripped jeans and a skinned knee after tripping over someone's foot. He guesses he should be glad that his phone and iPod were in his pockets instead of in his hand. Deciding the day was a total wash, he makes a tactical decision to just stay where he is and die of embarrassment.</p><p>Title taken from They Can't Save Us Now by Kill Hannah.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the world looks like a movie always playing

**Author's Note:**

> So giantsmisfit and I were talking on AIM about Tim/Javi and then about Tim in glasses and them roleplaying where the naughty nerdy boy meets hot Latin bad boy baseball player. So, y'know me, had to write it and it turned into an AU as opposed to roleplay porn. In which Javi is a baseball player but Tim is not.

Tim is pretty sure that this day can't get any worse. Cy had thrown up all over his favorite converse this morning, he'd missed his bus and was late to work, he'd burned his arm spilling his coffee and now... now he is face down on a sidewalk with ripped jeans and a skinned knee after tripping over someone's foot. He guesses he should be glad that his phone and iPod were in his pockets instead of in his hand. Deciding the day was a total wash, he makes a tactical decision to just stay where he is and die of embarrassment.

The universe, though, seems to have other plans for him. Large hands are gripping his arms and hauling him to his feet almost against his will. They bat against him and he flinches on instinct, years of bullies automatically making him fear the worst but he realizes all the guy is doing is dust him off. Tim stares at his shoes, shaking his head before pushing his headphones off. He's immediately hit by the sound of the city and the guy's rather amused voice.

“Should watch where you're going, kid. Aw hell, you're bleeding. You okay?”

“Well in body and considerably rumpled in spirit.” Tim answers, investigating his skinned palms and knee.

“Don't think you're well in body. Your knee looks like hamburger. Kinda gross.” The guy comments. 

That's nice, Tim thinks, laugh at an injured man's pain. He looks up to tell the guy just what he thinks of him and is hit with a surge of even more intense humiliation. Because of course of all the feet in San Francisco he has to trip over, he trips over Javi fucking Lopez's foot. Of all the people he has to totally and completely humiliate himself in front of, it's this guy. He sighs.

“I'm sorry. Bad day. Didn't look where I was going. I didn't make you drop anything, did I?”

“... really. You're bleeding and you're worried about me?” Lopez asks, staring at Tim and shaking his head. “You're something else kid. C'mon, come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“I live around the corner. At least let me clean you up. Don't want you dying of a flesh eating disease.”

“I'm not going to get a flesh eating disease.”

“Nobody thinks they are until they do.” Lopez says firmly, planting a hand between Tim's shoulder blades and gently pushing until he gets Tim to walk along with him. 

Tim just lets his head droop and trudges along. It's exciting... sort of. But he also made a little bit of a fool of himself and when Tim has embarrassed himself in any way shape or form, he tends to fixate on it and it ruins his ability to enjoy whatever comes afterward. He doesn't realize they've stopped until an amused Lopez prompts him to come inside. He blinks at the doorway and the dark staircase in front of him. This has all the trappings of a budget horror film.

He goes anyways, following Lopez up the stairs to a red painted door. The inside of the apartment tells a much different story than the creepy candy coating outside. It's bright and airy, smaller than he'd expect for a pro ball player. The decorations and the furniture have a homey feel that he likes. There's a desk in the corner with a closed laptop, scattered with textbooks and papers that appear to have something to do with law enforcement. The FBI thing must be no joke. He sits in a chair at the kitchen table at Lopez's prompting, taking an offered soda and drinking it slowly while Lopez disappears down a hallway.

There's a muffled shout of 'be right there!' and then silence. Tim looks around again. He's in Javi Lopez's apartment. Lopez is going to patch him up even though Tim's absentminded absorption in his own nerdery had made him fall. He's pretty sure that he _did_ make Lopez drop something but he's getting the feeling that the guy wouldn't admit it even if Tim tried to wheedle it out of him. His heart irrationally skips a beat when he sees a bag in the corner emblazoned with the Giants logo. Lopez's gear. Tim very steadfastly looks away from it. If he doesn't, he might not be able to resist the temptation to touch it.

He's faced with more temptation, though, in the form of Lopez coming out of the hallway. He's carrying a first aid kit, but Tim is more focused on the fact that he's barefoot in gym short and a t-shirt that's just a tad too tight. Tim flushes, tries to hide the fact that he was looking, but Lopez doesn't appear to notice, sitting down at the kitchen table and opening the first aid kit.

“Sorry I took so long. Had to change. Some punk made me dump my coffee all over myself.” He says, giving Tim a sideways look and a curling smile that makes Tim's heart thump in his chest.

“If it helps, I did the same thing today?” Tim offers, holding out his hands at Lopez's prompting. “I mean, I dumped coffee all over my arm. It was really hot and it hurt like hell.”

“Not really.” Lopez answers, dabbing at Tim's hands with a damp cloth. “Sounds like you're having a crappy day.”

“Not even the half of it.”

“Oh yeah? Do tell.”

Tim says it isn't important but Lopez nudges him, flicks his hand and tells him to start talking. Well, he asked. Tim tells him about waking up to a voicemail from his dad telling Tim his old bedroom had been converted into a home gym that Tim swears the man is never going to use. He tells him about Cy and the bus and how his boss is a dick and retail is slowly sucking his soul away from him until he will be a bitter, barren shell. He babbles, a lot, and he blushes when he realizes just how much he's overshared.

Lopez doesn't seem to mind though, asking questions and seeming to take a genuine interest in Tim's life in general. They turn out to share a love of sci fi and old music and classic movies. He learns that Lopez loves pumpkin flavored anything but hates beans with a fiery passion that he can't quite verbalize, finally telling Tim that he had a bad experience and he can leave it at that. There's not a lull in the conversation until long after Tim's hands and knees have been cleaned and bandaged.

When he's coming down from a fit of laughter after Lopez tells him about being pantsed in front of someone he had a crush on when he was a rookie, he takes a minute to look around and he's surprised to find that the apartment is much more dim. He glances to the side and the sun has gone down. He's been here for hours without even realizing it. He shifts his messenger back next to him, clearing his throat and trying to force away his blush.

“Christ, man, I'm sorry. Time kinda flew, didn't mean to bug you so long.”

“You didn't. You really didn't.” Lopez says slowly, looking like he's thinking hard. Tim wonders what he's thinking about. “Look, I might be reading this wrong so feel free to, I don't know, scream bloody murder or punch me if I _am_ wrong.”

It's on the tip of Tim's tongue to ask what he's talking about, but he doesn't have to because holyfuckingshit, Javier Lopez is kissing Tim. Javier Lopez is kissing Tim on his mouth. On purpose even. Not an accidental oops I fell on your lips kiss, which probably doesn't actually ever happen but Tim's heard people say it and yeah, every circuit in his brain is overloading and shorting out. 

“What the-” Tim pants when Lopez pulls back.

Lopez looks stricken and humiliated. “Shit, sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have assumed.... just, sorry.”

“I wasn't complaining. I... I really might want to do that again.”

Lopez smirks.


End file.
